Olfactory assessment in the Chinese pediatric population

Medicine (Baltimore). 2018 Apr;97(16):e0464. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000010464.

Abstract

Young children with olfactory disturbance are sometimes encountered in ENT clinics. We investigated the clinical applicability of olfactory testing to the pediatric population in China.One hundred and ninety-three healthy children aged 6 to 17 years were enrolled. All participants were asked for demographic information (age, sex, body mass index [BMI], and rating of olfactory function) in a structured questionnaire and underwent olfactory testing including T&T Olfactometer (T&T), odor discrimination (OD), and odor identification (OI) tests of Sniffin' Sticks.Age had a significant influence on the outcome of olfactory testing, sex, BMI, or self-rating had no influence. Children had better performance on T&T than OI and OD tests of Sniffin' Sticks.T&T and Sniffin' Sticks can be completed by Chinese children. Performance on olfactory tests increased with increasing age. T&T may be more suitable to assess olfactory function in the Chinese pediatric population.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age Factors
  • Child
  • China / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Olfaction Disorders* / diagnosis
  • Olfaction Disorders* / epidemiology
  • Olfactometry* / methods
  • Olfactometry* / statistics & numerical data
  • Olfactory Perception
  • Reproducibility of Results